Plant of the Week: Beyond Midnight Bluebeard

You know what's been looking really great in our garden these past couple of weeks? Beyond Midnight™ Caryopteris. It's Caryopteris season, of course, but this variety is especially appealing. The bees are all over it!

Beyond Midnight Caryopteris has extremely dark, glossy foliage, a compact habit, and rich blue flowers.

It has a particularly nice flower display, and unlike many other varieties, its foliage is quite attractive as well. It fits nicely into our border (2-2.5' tall and wide). Like other Caryopteris, Beyond Midnight™ will do best in full sun and well-drained soil. 

Caryopteris like Beyond Midnight are a favorite of pollinators.

Not a lot of good things happen after midnight. In fact, a lot of really bad decisions are made in the small hours of the morning. Check your Facebook feed or visit an all-night grocery store, and you'll see what I mean.

But this Sunday night we had the opportunity to see something really cool - a lunar eclipse. And not just any lunar eclipse: a Super Moon lunar eclipse!

Technically, the eclipse occurred before midnight; it started at 10:11 p.m. Eastern time. But I'm sure you will grant me a bit of poetic license with the Beyond Midnight™ tie-in because this was just too cool not to talk about. Maybe you stayed up beyond midnight talking about what you just saw. After all, there won't be another for eighteen more years.

Plant of the Week is written by Jane Beggs-Joles.